


Jupiter and Saturn

by sydkneemacc



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Andy is there for a bit, Artist Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Gen, I have no idea how to tag, Implied Sexual Content, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Acting Like a Married Couple, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani is an Incurable Romantic, M/M, Memories, Mentioned Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Mentioned Quynh | Noriko, Nile is there too, Nile uses Nicky’s sniper scope as a telescope wish is pretty cool, Not Beta Read, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Reminiscing, Soft Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Talking, The Great Conjunction, We Die Like Men, got inspired from a tumblr post, idk but a little bit, mentioned merrick, pure fluff, saturn and jupiter, star imagery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sydkneemacc/pseuds/sydkneemacc
Summary: The first time Jupiter and Saturn formed a great conjunction on record was in 1226. Joe and Nicky were alive and very much in love to witness it. Now it’s 2020 and Nile tells them it’s happening again. They are still very much alive and in love to witness it a second time.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 9
Kudos: 109





	1. 1226

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by a tumblr post from @thecostoflies
> 
> I love this fic so much :) comments and criticism is greatly appreciated 
> 
> go check out my tumblr @sydkneemacc

———

It had been nearly a century and a half since Yusuf and Nicoló first crossed blades under the sweltering desert sun. Since then the once-enemies became travel companions, which grew into a wary friendship and now into an ever-blossoming romance. By the time Andromache and Quyhn found the two men, they were far past comfortable in expressing their love for each other. Yusuf and Nicoló traveled with the women, a pair who had a relationship synonymous to their own. At night, Yusuf, ever the poet, would whisper in Nicoló’s ear about how they were meant to find each other. How they came into this life together like it was destiny. Glares followed by silent laughter from the intertwined women across the fire quieted their whispers. Together, the four immortals traveled across the world. Fighting against tyranny, fighting for what they thought was right. Performing mundane acts of service that they thought made the world better, one minuscule opportunity at a time. Eventually, the fighting wore thin, wars ceased for the smallest moment and the immortals jumped on the chance to take a break. Andromache and Quyhn traveled west to Baghdad from their small, shared base outside Cairo, the focal point of the recently ended March on Cairo. Something that would later be called the Fifth Crusade. Yusuf and Nicoló on the other hand traveled north, with plans to head to Greece. 

“Yusuf,” Nicoló whispered softly, as to not wake the other members of the caravan they were traveling with at the moment. He gently pushed himself up on their shared mat. “Yusuf, destati!”

“Sonó qui, hayati,” the other man responded, releasing Nicoló from his right embrace. “What is the matter?”

Nicoló gazed down at the man below him. Such a sight, Yusuf was, in his waking. Curls knotted from time spent pressed against Nicoló’s back. Brown eyes, large and penetrating Nicoló’s very being as they scanned his face. A worried look was painted on his lover’s face. “Apologies, my heart, I did not mean to worry you. Everything is just fine.” He placed a gentle kiss on the bridge of Yusuf’s nose. 

“If nothing is the matter, my Nicoló, then why have you awoken me at such an ungodly hour?” Yusuf asked with a playful tone in his voice. 

Nicoló chuckled. His Yusuf could sleep through many things, Nicoló voice calling for him not being one. “Shhh,” he hushed, pushing himself further up and out of Yusuf’s arms. His beloved groaned in complaint. “I have heard talk from the other men.”

Yusuf was awake now, silently running his fingers against Nicoló’s forearm. The action sent shivers down Nicoló’s spine. “What kind of talk?” Yusuf’s voice was wary. 

“Nothing harmful to us,” Nicoló assured. “One of the men, the one with the brightly colored scarf, his son studies the stars and he said that tomorrow night there will be a star so bright, it will look like another moon.” His voice was raised with excitement as he told Yusuf what he had overheard. 

Yusuf chuckled softly. “Ah, my Nicoló. Your passion never fails to make me fall more in love with you. Whenever you are happy, it makes me happy tenfold. Your eyes light up in a way that could shed light in even the darkest of caves and your smile is just as blinding. If I had my charcoal and parchment then I would merely attempt to capture your beauty.” Yusuf’s voice was filled with warmth and admiration.

Nicoló could feel the heat rise to cheeks and he once again cursed his fair skin, as he knew Yusuf would take pleasure in knowing that his words were able to render the other man speechless and red in the face. “My poet, my romantic Yusuf,” he responded, running a hand against his lover’s jaw. “Tomorrow night, let us part from this caravan if only for a few hours. We can watch for this star together, habibi.”

Yusuf yawned as he nodded. “Beloved Nicoló, we may look for the star but your light will be the only thing catching my eye tomorrow night, as you have every night,” he conceded in a tired voice. Yusuf brought Nicoló’s fingers to his lips and kissed them tenderly, a kiss on each knuckle. 

“As long as we are watching together, my heart,” Nicoló said as he snuggled back into Yusuf’s open, waiting arms. 

“We will always be together,” Yusuf responded, head buried in the crook of Nicoló’s neck. 

Nicoló fell asleep with a smile on his face and the warmth of his beloved on his back. 

The following morning, the caravan rose with the sun. They were nearing Athens, its towering mountains just noticeable in the distance. Yusuf and Nicoló rode together on a shared horse, just behind the last man in the caravan. Nicoló’s arms were wrapped around Yusuf’s waist, sending vibrations through his chest whenever Yusuf politely laughed along with the other men. That was one of the things Nicoló loved so much about his partner. His ability to instantly connect with anyone they encountered on their journey. This proved to be helpful many times in more ways than one. The caravan traveled for hours. Only coming to rest when the sun reached its peak and it was too hot to travel for much longer. 

“How are you faring, habibi?” Yusuf asked as he helped Nicoló dismount from the horse. 

Nicoló smiled as he interlaced his fingers with Yusuf’s. “Always well with you. Though the day’s heat is nearing unbearable,” he responded cheekily. 

Yusuf laughed. A loud musical sound that tightened Nicoló’s chest whenever he heard it. He wished he had such a way with words as his lover did, for if he was blessed with such a gift he would tell Yusuf just how much he meant to him for hours on end. Unfortunately, he would have to settle for showing his love in other ways.

The caravan took refuge under a rocky outcropping. The sun’s rays were hidden behind a mountain peak, casting dancing shadows across the ground. Nicoló glanced up at the sky, a hand shielding his eyes from any wandering sunbeams. 

As if reading his mind, Yusuf spoke up. “Looking for the stars, my heart?” 

Nicoló nodded. “I am very excited. When I was a boy, there was a man in Genoa who would tell a story that said that if you were able to find the brightest star in the sky, it would shine down onto the world and illuminate your one true love.” He didn’t usually talk about his boyhood in Genoa, as it usually led to the now buried feelings of guilt and remorse, left behind by his involvement in the horrific First Crusade. 

Yusuf placed a warm hand on the small of his back. “Do you believe the sage’s story, Nicoló?” he asked, not in a mocking tone but a curious one. Yet another thing he loved about Yusuf. His unyielding curiosity and acceptance of Nicoló and his past. 

“I already found my one true love, Yusuf. I do not need a star to tell me who it is,” Nicoló replied, voice serious yet eyes betraying the love behind his words. “But it would still be a sight, don’t you think.” 

Yusuf was quiet. A rare moment indeed. Until finally he spoke up. “Nicoló, hayati, every day you amaze me. Just when I think I cannot fall deeper into love with you, you say something like that and I find myself falling once more.” Yusuf snaked his other hand around to grab the back of Nicoló’s neck. He leaned his head towards him, waiting for Nicoló to reciprocate. 

“I speak only the truth, beloved,” Nicoló whispered as he touched his own forehead to his love’s. 

The caravan stayed under the outcropping for hours, waiting for the heat of midday to slowly dissipate. Yusuf and Nicoló allowed themselves to relax, once they were sure of no danger. They watched from a short distance as the men drank and laughed heartily, passing the day with stories. When asked to join them, Yusuf and Nicoló turned them down politely. It was always easier to leave something behind when you do not form attachments. 

The day dwindled to an end. The blistering sun falling further below the mountains, leaving room in the sky for the moon and its shining glory. Yusuf would call Nicoló his moon. His guiding light through the darkness that would often threaten to overcome the pair. The darkness being the ever-looming reality that their immortality and life with each other could come to an end someday. Nicoló was usually the voice of reason during times such as those. Reminding Yusuf that they were brought into this life together and they would leave in a similar fashion. 

“-coló! Nicoló, habibi, where are your thoughts?” Yusuf’s voice anchored Nicoló to reality. The former was standing over Nicoló’s own sitting form, with only the light of a small fire illuminating his face. 

Nicoló looked up after a moment. “Sonó qui. Sonó qui,” he repeated gently. He pushed himself up to stand next to his love. “Are the stars out, Yusuf?” 

Yusuf chucked, low and warm. “Yes, my Nicoló. Though I waited to look for the big star with you,” he added. 

“How kind,” Nicoló replied, no malice in his voice. “Shall we?” He extended his hand to Yusuf who, in turn, gently intertwined their fingers. 

“We shall,” Yusuf responded, laughter discernible in both his voice and his eyes. 

Together, hands locked and swinging between them, Yusuf and Nicoló made their way out from under the outcropping. The sky was blacker than ink and millions of little lights dotted its surface. The moon cast a dull glow against the mountainside but the real sight was the larger than life star in the center of the sky. 

“Yusuf,” Nicoló whispered. “There.” He pointed up at the sky above them. The star was indeed beautiful and it was so bright and so large that Nicoló felt he could reach up and grab in. Suddenly an overwhelming weight on his shoulders sank him down to the ground. He laid on his back eyes wide as he stared up at the star. 

Yusuf laid down next to him. “Are you well, Nicoló?”

Nicoló nodded. “Sí, amore mio.” His voice was barely a whisper. 

“Do not hide your feelings from me, beloved. If something is troubling you I must know so I may relieve you of your discomfort,” Yusuf responded. Their bodies were pushed together side by side, hands still clasped together in between. 

Nicoló sighed as he continued to stare up at the star. “It must be billions of years old, Yusuf,” he finally said. 

“The star?”

“Si, the star.” Nicky spared a glance at his love, whose brown eyes were locked intensely onto his own. Yusuf’s eyes made Nicoló melt for in them he could see the warmth that encompassed Yusuf’s very being. “It is so very old. We are already very old as well, by normal standards. Will we live as long as this star and spend our days watching over humanity or will we flicker down to earth, streaking across the sky, leaving nothing behind? We are not infinite, cuore mio.”

Yusuf said nothing at first and Nicoló was scared he said the wrong thing. Words were Yusuf’s forte, not Nicoló. Then the former released a breath. “Hayati, I will never leave you to ask these questions alone. Whatever may happen. Whenever we die our final deaths, whether that be in fifty, five hundred, or five thousand years, we will go together. If we are fated to fall like a star then we will fall together. For the universe knows it cannot split us apart, cannot keep us from each other. I will follow you into the dark blanket of the sky if that is our destiny.” Yusuf brought his free hand to Nicoló's face and gently turned him toward himself. “Nicoló, “I love you” doesn’t do justice to how I feel about you. You are my moon, my warmth, my everything. You are all and more.”

Nicoló felt a tear drip down his face, falling to the side because of the position he was in. Yusuf tenderly kissed it away. “Yusuf,” he began. But the tightness in his chest further proved that words will never be able to do justice to his feelings for the man. He leaned his head forward. Like routine, Yusuf met him in the middle. They laid there, foreheads together, wrapped in each other until the sun finally rose and the star blinked out of existence. Never to be seen again for many many many years.


	2. 2020

———

“What are you doing, Nicky?”

Nile’s voice shook Nicky out of his trance. Ever since Merrick’s lab and Booker’s betrayal, he found himself slipping into his thoughts more often than he used to. The group had traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal. A safe enough distance from London to work on getting past the trauma that occurred there. Nile was settling in perfectly with the trio. The help she provided to them was immeasurable. From coaxing Andy to slow down and not put herself in unnecessary danger, that with her her newfound mortality could prove fatal to talking art with Joe.

Nicky cleared his throat. “Nile. Hello. I apologize.” He stood up from his sitting position in the red armchair near the door.

Nile smiled softly, a small understanding smile that seemed to know all of Nicky’s thoughts. “He’ll be back soon. They just went to get some food,” she said, placing a hand on his arm.

Nicky’s earlier assumption was correct. Nile did know exactly what he was thinking. “I know. It’s just-”

“After Merrick you don’t want to be apart from him,” Nile interrupted. “I understand. What you guys went through was horrible.”

Nicky attempted a dry laugh. “It may have been, but you came in and saved the day.”

Nile blushed and looked away bashfully.

“You are young, Nile. We are old. Andy, even older. There has never been a time where Joe and I have purposely been apart,” Nicky began, keeping his eyes on the young woman’s face. “The threat of mortality is horrifying. I don’t know how to live without him. He’s all I’ve known for the past nine hundred years.” Nicky was surprised to hear his voice crack with emotion. He drew in a shaky breath as he walked to the kitchen.

Nile followed him like a puppy. “You won’t have to live without him, Nicky. You both survived Merrick, you’ve survived worse and you’ll continue to survive,” she said. A raw strength stemmed from her voice, reaching the very depths of Nicky’s soul. This woman in front of him was young, a baby, yet she spoke with the casual wisdom of a woman who has seen the worst of humanity.

A silence fell over the pair as Nicky nodded his agreement. Mere moments later the silence was broken by the sound of a car pulling up to the safe house. Instantly, Nicky perked up. A knock on the door followed by the squeak of the hinges rang through the house.

“Honey, I’m home,” Joe called out, voice full of mirth. He was carrying a brown paper bag that Nicky could tell was filled with vegetables and other ingredients for dinner.

Andy followed Joe shortly after, grumbling about the prices of some local delicacies.

Nicky watched Joe place the bag down on the table and approach him with a curious look on his face. “Sta bene, amore mío?” Joe’s voice was quiet as he intertwined their fingers.

Nile took this as a cue to leave and Nicky could see her mouthing something to Andy out of the corner of his eye. “Si, tutto bene,” he replied after a moment. He brought his forehead forward. “I’m glad you’re back.” his voice was barely a whisper as Joe leaned forward and placed his head against Nicky’s.

“I will always come back to you,” Joe replied as he pulled away gently. He placed his hands under Nicky’s shirt, their warmth sending shivers through Nicky’s body. Nicky allowed himself to be pulled into Joe’s arms. They stayed like that for a moment. Drinking in the other's closeness, getting lost in a world of their own.

Andy groaned from the old couch in the next room. “We get it guys you’re hopelessly in love and probably horny as shit right now but I’m starving and Nicky can’t make dinner with Joe hanging off of him.” Her words were serious but her tone was playful. Andy knew all too well the horror of losing someone that means the world to you and she knew better than to split the two men up in the months following Merrick.

Joe mumbled in protest as Nicky untangled himself from his love’s embrace. Nicky watched as Joe made his way out of the kitchen to grab his sketchbook and take a seat at the table. Nicky laughed to himself as Joe buried himself into the pages of his art. The bearded man glanced up periodically at Nicky before furiously sketching once more.

Dinner was a quick chicken and pasta. The small army of four sat down at the table and began to eat silently. Andy was eating with her eyes closed, exhaustion etching lines across her face. Nile was glancing at her worriedly in between pages of the newspaper she was reading. Nicky had sat next to Joe, who was too engrossed in his sketchbook to notice the food in front of him. “Eat, my heart,” Nicky said quietly, nudging the other man’s leg with his knee. “You can draw me later.”

Joe looked up instantly and smiled so wide Nicky thought he would melt. Even after more than nine hundred years Yusuf shone brighter than the sun and it made Nicoló fall in love with him more and more. Joe winked before leaning towards Nicky and dropping his voice into a low tone. “I have many ideas on how to position you for my latest pieces of art,”  
he said in a flirtatious tone.

Nile choked on her pasta, still not used to the casual display of such intimate situations. “Ok first of all can we eat in peace.”

“I agree,” Andy said with a chuckle.

Nile flashed her a smile. “Second of all, look at this.” Nile held up the newspaper. A headline in bold letters read:

**The Great Conjunction: Jupiter & Saturn Together Again**

Below the headline, a slightly blurry picture showed two orbs in the night sky.

“Isn’t that cool?” Nile asked. Her tone betrayed her excitement. “Astrologers and NASA scientists are saying that it’s going to be the brightest star in the sky. And get this, the last time this happened was in the year 1226.”

Nicky and Joe looked at each other. Nicky could see the memories racing through Joe’s mind and he was sure Joe could see the same thing in him.

Andy was looking between the two of them oddly. “Sounds cool. When is it?”

“Tonight,” Nile responded. “Well technically, tomorrow morning since Nepal won’t be able to see it till 1am. Bummer that it’s so late but I kinda wanna see it.”

Joe and Nicky were still looking at each other, fond smiles decorating both of their faces. “We will stay up with you Nile,” Nicky pitched in, eyes finally leaving Joe’s.

Nile beamed. “Thanks guys!” She placed the newspaper down and ate her food in a content manner.

Dinner was over soon after that. Nile and Andy took up positions on the couch, arguing over which Nepali reality TV show they were going to watch. Joe and Nicky retreated to their bedroom, hands interlocked. Though the safe house wasn’t that small, the bedrooms were cozy, with only a queen bed, a desk and chair and a small dresser occupying the space. The group had been there for a month now and the domesticity was beginning to settle in. The shelves above the desk were lined with sketchbooks, poetry books and two copies of the Qur'an and Bible. The dresser was filled with their small amount of clothing and the bed was noticeably slept in. Nicky couldn’t help but smile.

“What’s the smile for, habibi?” Joe asked as he placed his sketchbook on the shelf.

Nicky laid down on the bed. “Do you remember when we saw the star Nile was talking about?” It was a silly question for he knew that the love of his life remembered, the looks exchanged over dinner proved his assumption.

Joe laid down next to him. “Of course I do. I remember the words you spoke to me that night almost everyday, my Nicoló.” Nicky maneuvered himself so he was now lying in the crook of Joe’s arm, half draped over his chest. “You looked beautiful that night. As you do every night.”

“Charmer,” Nicky chuckled playfully. “Can you believe we have lived long enough to see it happen twice?”

Joe hummed thoughtfully. “As long as you are with me, I am willing to see it a hundred more times.”

Nicky smiled and nestled into his love’s arms. He felt himself slowly drift into sleep, lulled by the feeling of Joe’s fingers in his hair. His dreams were filled with images of his husband. Joe’s smile, his curls, his hands. The way Joe would bite his lower lip when he was focused on a new sketch. The way his eyes seemed to penetrate the depths of Nicky’s very being. Eyes filled with such emotion that Nicky could meet them with his own and feel a wave of warmth settle over him. His Joe loved endlessly and Nicky loved him for it.

A knock on the door woke the couple up hours later. It was Nile. Nicky opened his eyes, now wide awake. He had never been a light sleeper. Joe on the other hand was snuggling closer into Nicky’s body. Nicky looked from his love to Nile. The woman had an apologetic smile on her face. “I’m sorry to wake you guys,” she said. In Nicky’s opinion she didn’t sound that sorry. Nile was blinding on her toes and she had Nicky’s sniper scope in her hand. “We should be able to see the conjunction by now. Oh and I’m borrowing your scope to use as binoculars.”

Joe let out a huff of laughter. “Smart kid,” he said as he pushed himself up next to Nicky.

Nicky smiled at him before turning back to Nile. “Go on out,” he said with a nod of his head. “We’ll be right behind you.”

“Okayyy.” Nile left the door open behind her and Nicky could hear the creaking of the front door opening.

Nicky pulled himself out of bed. “Get up, Joe. We wouldn’t want to miss this,” Nicky said as he leaned down and kissed his husband on the nose.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Joe said as let Nicky pull him out of bed. Their bodies were close, close enough to where if someone were to walk in they wouldn’t know where one of them ended and the other began. “I’m ready to see the stars, hayati. Though it will be hard to focus on their light when I have you shining so brightly next to me.”

Nicky ducked his head against Joe’s chest. Nine hundred years and Joe’s words awakened emotions in Nicky he never has felt or will feel for anyone else. Joe pulled away softly and pulled one of Nicky’s old hoodies over his head, causing his curls to flatten for a moment. Nicky reached up and fluffed them back up. Joe leaned into his touch. “Come. Nile will be disappointed if we do not join her.”

Joe hummed his agreement. Together the couple left their bedroom behind and opened the door to the safe house. A cool gust of wind swept through as Joe and Nicky walked out the door. They followed the cobblestone path up to a flat rock on the edge of the hill. Their safe house overlooked Kathmandu, the city’s lights flickering beneath them.

Nile was staring up at the sky, hands on her hips. In one hand, she was holding Nicky’s scope. At the sound of their footsteps she turned and her face split into a smile. “Wow, I’m surprised you guys actually got out of bed,” she said humorously.  
“We wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Nicky said, as he laid down on the ground.

Joe laid down next to him, in the same position they laid in all throes centuries ago. “We were there the first time this happened, well the first time it was on record at least,” he said as he wrapped his arm behind Nicky’s head, providing a pillow for the other man.

Nile’s mouth dropped open and she joined them on the floor. “I forget how old you guys are sometimes.” She turned her head back up to the sky. “Look!” she exclaimed. “There it is.” She raised her hand up in the air, pointing at a bright white light directly above them.

Nicky smiled softly and he felt Joe’s head against the top of his. “It’s beautiful,” he whispered. He turned to look at Joe who was staring up at the light. His love’s eyes were watery. Nicky reached up and placed a hand on Joe’s cheek. Joe turned to look at him and smiled.

Joe leaned closer to Nicky. “We’re infinite, my love.”

Jupiter and Saturn are older than time, older than Andy even, yet they are fated to never meet. For most people, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon. But for Joe and Nicky, this is just another testament of their love. They survived countless wars and tragedies but they stayed together through it all. Like Jupiter and Saturn they are older than anything on this Earth. Like Jupiter and Saturn, they live with the knowledge of all the horrors humanity is capable of and survive to tell the tale. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, Joe and Nicky will live with the comfort that they are never far from each other. They live for each other.


End file.
